Today is Wednesday, Feb. 9, the 40th day of 2005. There are 325 days left in the year. This is Ash

Today is Wednesday, Feb. 9, the 40th day of 2005. There are 325 days left in the year. This is Ash Wednesday. This is the Chinese New Year of the Rooster. On this date in 1943, the World War II battle of Guadalcanal in the southwest Pacific ends with an American victory over Japanese forces.
In 1773, the ninth president of the United States, William Henry Harrison, is born in Charles City County, Va. In 1825, the House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams president after no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes. In 1861, the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America elects Jefferson Davis president and Alexander H. Stephens vice president. In 1870, the U.S. Weather Bureau is established. In 1950, in a speech in Wheeling, W.Va., Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., charges the State Department is riddled with Communists. In 1964, The Beatles make their first live American television appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on CBS. In 1971, the Apollo 14 spacecraft returns to Earth after man's third landing on the moon. In 1984, Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov dies at age 69, less than 15 months after succeeding Leonid Brezhnev; he is succeeded by Konstantin U. Chernenko. In 2001, a U.S. Navy submarine collides with a Japanese fishing boat off the Hawaiian coast, killing nine men and boys aboard the boat. In 2002, Britain's Princess Margaret dies in London at age 71.
February 9, 1980: Atty. Joseph D. Betras is sworn in as interim Mahoning County Area Court judge, replacing Judge Jack A. Lipari.
Steve Bona Sr., 78, operator of a Wick Avenue service station, is shot dead in front of 1344 Wick Ave. while chasing a robber from his station. A 22-year-old neighborhood man was arrested at his home a short time later.
The Youngstown Hospital Association spends $66.9 million in 1979 to provide health care at its three hospitals. B.H. Hunt, vice president of financial affairs, says 66.2 percent of the expenditures went to wages.
February 9, 1965: A $50,000 fire destroys a two-story garage at the Williams Funeral Home in Canfield, incinerating three vehicles and the funeral home's casket stock.
The Federal Communications Commission approves the sale of WYTV, Channel 33, from Youngstown RV Inc. to WYTV Inc. for $1.05 million.
In her Golden Globe acceptance speech, Julie Andrews thanks former Youngstowner Jack L. Warner for not selecting her to make the movie version of "My Fair Lady." She won her Golden Globe for her performance in the title role of "Mary Poppins," which she would not have been able to make if Warner had cast her in "My Fair Lady."
February 9, 1955: Philip Urban, 68, of Canterbury Lane, is fatally injured when he was struck by a neighbor's car in South Avenue near Simon Road, the ninth traffic fatality in Mahoning County in 1955.
The State Highway Construction Council's biennial highway program submitted to the General Assembly involved $29,4 million in funds for projects in the Youngstown district.
Anthony Marino, teacher of mathematics at East High School and author of several widely used texts in math, has had one of his books adopted for statewide use in Texas. The state will use "Mathematics for Today" for at least six years.
February 9, 1930: General health conditions in Youngstown are between 40 and 50 percent better than in past years and is likely to improve, a group of 50 physicians and surgeons meeting in Youngstown agree.
St. Elizabeth Hospital is host to 622 new arrivals in 1929, the statistical report of the hospital reveals. The babies were all housed in the new obstetrics unit, which opened in February.
About 250 delegates to the statewide convention of the B'nai B'rith arrive in Youngstown for a two-day convention.